Serfoji College’s Afforestation Mission With Palmyrah Seeds
“We collect palmyrah fruits that fall from the tree from farmers and sow them after drying them and making them into seeds,” said Prof. Elangovan, Prof. of Maths and NSS officer of the college.
Thanjavur:The National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of Rajah Serfoji government college here has taken the lead in sowing palmyrah seeds in Thanjavur district as part of its afforestation activity, mission to protect and propagate the ancient tree of Tamil soil, and environment protection.
“We collect palmyrah fruits that fall from the tree from farmers and sow them after drying them and making them into seeds,” said Prof. Elangovan, Prof. of Maths and NSS officer of the college.
“We have collected 12,000 palmyrah fruits so far. We will dry them and convert them into seeds. Our target is to collect 1 lakh seeds this year. We will achieve this goal as the many farmers we contacted assured to provide the seeds. One farmer in Orathanadu assured to give 20,000 seeds. Another farmer assured to give 30,000 seeds. NSS volunteers will plant them at various places like Manora, near Pattukottai, a coastal area, and Kallaperambur lake bund, near Thanjavur, and other places. Our aim is to supply 1 lakh seeds as part of the target of 1 crore seed plantation in the state this year,” said Elangovan.
He and the NSS volunteers have been visiting nearby villages like Marukulam, Kurungulam and Orathanadu to collect palmyrah seeds. They talk to farmers in the area and collect the seeds. Sometimes they collect the fruits that fall from the trees.
Palmyrah trees are unique in that no part of them goes waste. The entire tree can be used for various purposes. Fibre and leaves from it can be used for traditional roofing, fencing and making handicraft items. Tender palm fruit, called ‘nungu’ in Tamil (ice apple), and palm sprouts, called ‘panam kizhangu’ in Tamil, are edible and nutritious. Nungu is consumed by people for quenching their thirst in summer.
The sap is used for making jaggery called ‘karuppatti’, in Tamil. Jaggery preparation happens more in districts like Ramanathapuram, said Elangovan.
Other organisations like Clean Thanjavur Movement (CTM) have also taken up sowing palmyrah seeds as part of their afforestation activities.
“Besides planting saplings of various species of plants, we have also sowed palmyrah seeds in large numbers. We sowed palmyrah seeds on the Tamil University campus and Rani Samudram lake bund at Thanjavur. Using school students, we sowed palmyrah seeds in the Thirumangalakottai area and Grand Anicut canal bunds,” said Dr. Radhika Michael, president of CTM.
On September 24, when NSS Day is celebrated, we are going to sow palmyrah seeds on the banks of Kallaperambur lake, said Elangovan.
Palmyrah, with the botanical name Borassus flabellifer, the state tree of Tamil Nadu, thrives in the fertile soil of Thanjavur district. The trees support local ecology, rural crafts and conservation efforts.
The trees act as natural windbreakers and barriers against severe cyclonic storms.
